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@Jameson76, I think the OP was given the applicant's portion.

Think in terms of what your patrol would take backpacking, and you'll be pretty close.

I'm an ASM, and I didn't know a thing about my son's MBs or blue cards. I might have known a few of their counselors, but that's about it. By the time they were Star scouts, they were operating independently. No harm in asking though. I'd call the counselor ... especially about what is on record for the crossed out badge. No ham in the scout learning that sloppy paperwork gives people pause.

Obfuscation starts at the top. Do you all realize that this decade's membership stats are buried in an annual report ... in .pdf format? It would be no trouble to list those stats in a single page in a plain text table by year -- current year on top row. Date and auditor's reference in the header. If I were in congress, I would move to reject any report that did not have that on page 1 of any Title 36 organization. For a model, consider the US Census' opening page. Just saying, for any of you whose SE's have fluff as a top priority, a servant is no greater than their master.

We also need to accept the fact that there may be a reason a parent won't register (not in a no-cost position). Something might come up in a background check that a parent would not discuss. In certain of our families, that might apply to both parents. On occasion the problem might involve something that would be a serious red flag. We've seem some serious messes come through the door. Still, we want such parents to know what to expect from us. That pamphlet in each handbook is a good start. But, it won't work for most. Frankly, I don't think there's a one size fits all. The best I can think of is a senior scouter (CC or MC or ASM) who invests a lot of time orienting new parents. Call them informal YP tutors. Getting your older scouts into the YP game is important too.

I'm aware that things at Philmont are a little weird. I would think that after the incident where a scout couldn't escape his tent in a flood, they would have backed off that a little. There's surely a point at which are certain amount of stitched edges transitions a tarp into a tent. But, no doubt: cheaper is heavier. Untreated netting isn't too expensive, the treated parachute cloth (my name for UL tarp) ain't cheap. But, if you're grabbing a tent just to toss its poles because you're counting on using hiking sticks or finding decently spaced trees, I suspect you'll hit cost parity quickly. Questions: Has anyone used poles that double as pack frame? Do adults on Philmont crews share a tent? If so, does the advertised capacity from REI work for you?

This falls apart on multiple levels. Uncle Jack, who has been taking his nieces and nephews to his favorite fishing hole since they could walk, is not going to stop just because they are now scouts. Bobby the babysitter with a driver's license is not going to stop driving the kids to events just because they are under the auspices of the BSA. And certainly not when she turns 18. Jane, who is in college someplace awesome to hike is going to invite her younger brother and scout buddy to stay at her dorm the night before some cool scouting expo on her campus. A half dozen boys are going to meet and apply their skills to spend a night in Gramp's' cabin near the state game lands. Gramp's will toss them the keys to the cabin and maybe the pickup to haul their gear there. That said, I think it's a really good idea to encourage parents to get a scouting.org account and take the youth protection training online. I usually tell them that they are better served when they know the standards we scouterr are holding ourselves to. Before departures, I'll have drivers circle up and give them a thumbnail of risk zone and buddy system. At camp, I'll have new adults gather by the moka pot and give the. A thumbnail YPT.

Definitely there are cultural differences. In this town our urban youth tend to be more outgoing than suburban youth. And that is almost to the point where they undermine their own education ... talking back to teachers, treating homework as a suggestion instead of a demand, etc ... On my side of town, the suburbs do represent some flight of the upper classes. But it's not entirely a class difference. There seems to be more of a "children should be (barely) seen and not heard" attitude among suburbanites, where as the urbanites have more of a tradition of kids out on the streets patronizing businesses, etc ...until the streetlights come on.

@David CO, the scenario you describe with your teachers is precisely the one we are preparing our scouts for in case they are the first to respond to an emergency. In your teachers' case, students are attempting to use their "rank" as a civilian or fellow citizen to justify their petulance. It's a different side of the same coin. 'Skip's scenario is being practiced by 14 year-olds. However, they might not encounter an actual scene for years, and they are adults in 4 years (well, in the UK, I think that's the case ... the US has these bizarre stages of arrested development: 18 for cigarrettes, 20 for alcohol, 26 for no longer being on parents' insurance). So, the issue is not really "facing down unqualified adults" when you are just a kid ... it is facing down peers when you know what's right. I.e., Be prepared ... for life.

In its original application of attempting to understand PTSD in veterans, I believe you are correct, the authority was deemed to be legitimate. Applied to healthcare in this decade, I think "legitimate" is in play. The legitimate authority in the past had been medical boards, but in currently physicians are perplexed my mandates from third party payers, and even the new electronic medical record which some of my physician friends find constraining to the point that patients are harmed. The moral injury comes when actors whose interests aren't always aligned with the Doctor-patient relationship. (Mrs Q and I are dealing with some elder-care issues that smack of this sort of thing.) Obviously, we train scouts to cede control to trained EMTs and physicians, but that's not merely because we think they have legitimacy in terms of chain of command. It's because we expect their training to complement the care the scout would have given up to that point. In the unlikely event that the person the scout gives control to is a malpractionor and leads to the patient's unnecessary death, that could be a kind of moral injury. But the common scenario is somebody using their age (sometimes sex), absent any other credentials as justification to interfere in effective patient care. So the moral injury in this context comes from a misapplied legitimacy. So, the term is not a perfect application to the civilian scenario, but I think it comes close.

I dunno guys, even after a 40% discount on the tent, I can buy a lot of tarp, netting, parachord, and stakes.

We all know now that this demeanor -- while essential for elementary education, religious sensibility, functioning families, and long term personal growth -- has boundaries and will backfire in certain contexts. Specifically when an abuser takes advantage of a culture's willingness to think "an occasional mishap is a small price to pay", the youth in his/her sights no longer becomes a charge and becomes a victim. Some in the medical field (especially here in the US where healthcare is under strain) describe a situation called "moral injury" where pressures are put upon a doctor or nurse to become so efficient that they feel their prime responsibility to their patient is undermined. In lifesaving scenarios, having to cede authority to someone less competent is heart-wrenching. When we teach the next generation how they may forestall death, but don't teach them how to stand up to someone who may abuse their age or some other false authority to undermine a rescuer's ability to spare loss of life and limb, we put that generation at risk of moral injury. What happens to a morally injured first-responder? Well, in @Eagle94-A1's case, he chewed on it and made sure to never let that happen again. Others will commit to never putting themselves in such a position again -- pass on the other side of the road, leave it up to the professionals, never take next level training, or do enough to pass the test and never engage the lessons, etc .... Folks, that becomes a whole lot of training for naught. On the positive side, teaching first aid students crowd control -- or teaching a life guard to not suffer fools at the waterfront, also has the side effect of giving them a tool that may defend them against abuse.

Not to promote stereotypes, but ... Throughout my life, I've noticed average British youth tend to be a little more reserved than other youth. Simple example: at World Jambo, I struck up a conversation with two young women from Kent who were watching me hang a flag. They had heard that the Indians were giving henna tattoos. I showed them the one they gave me and pointed to their camp, encouraging them to pay a visit. They looked at me sheepishly, and asked me if I would make introductions for them, which I gladly did, and soon they had called to their mates two campsites down, and soon Mumbai's lawn was full of English scouts having a henna party. As the week wore on, these girls became bolder. It's a rare American youth who would feel that they needed my assistance. But even our lifesaving instruction usually involves training youth to be firm and directive. It doesn't come naturally.

That said, this troop is doing the right thing by putting itself "out there." What I would like to have heard is not only does the church offer its kitchen, but that sometimes boys come before meetings to cook dinner with their patrol. It's one thing to brag about your tools, it's another thing to brag that your boys know how to use them!

Peer-to-peer recruitment among youth is doing just fine. Purveyors of recreational drugs rely on it to secure their future clientele. If scouts Eagle-and-out it is because they don't feel: needed. The adults will do all the work anyway. challenged. The troop isn't pitching Palms and other awards properly. respected. They aren't being asked to visit elementary and middle schools in uniform to promote the program. They aren't attending naturalization ceremonies, or opening a session of local government, or helping run a booth at a community festival. wealthy. Someone isn't offering them a job to pay for the next big-ticket event. humble. They think they've "arrived" and haven't figured out that they should take their place among other scouts (BSA or GS/USA) in their community. loved. Leaders don't greet them with enthusiasm, younger scouts don't want them at their campfire. Scouters in general don't care about their friends. All of that is quickly perceived by younger scouts.

Is that an inside-the-beltway way of saying "We've just about hit rock bottom?"

I think that's the difference. It doesn't take much effort in any Western PA town -- even Pittsburgh --- to find a ravine or ridge to claim as your own. Our local GS/USA troops take advantage of that, even though camp closures have made it harder for them. It's a rare girl around here who want's more outdoor experience than her GS troop offers. In terms of unique camping opportunities with Scouts BSA: I know of, for example, a troop who shares a cooking campout with GS/USA and BSA troops. Has been doing that for years. So, most girls get their camping "fix", and folks simply don't see the sense of a steep registration fee just to walk into the woods. I'll have to compare notes with the leader in my district who started a Scouts BSA troop for girls. They were an enthusiastic lot when I met them in May. They might just be Venturers in a year. But, I'm not sure if that's translated to growing beyond one patrol.

Quack practitioners.

No slight. Just saying it's a big country. I''m observing in my community is a strong preference for GS/USA as the program for their girls to achieve what Boy Scouts achieve. That's a credit to their leaders. No point in starting a troop here among mostly contented girls. So, I'm just buying their cookies. In communities where it is seen as as a (i.e., one of many) program for their girls, Scouts BSA is launching a troop or two -- roughly the size of a patrol. In communities where Scouts BSA is the opportunity for girls to achieve what Boy Scouts achieve, you will have the 5-patrol Scouts BSA girls' troops.

Because our GS/USA troops are outstanding, and I don't want to jeopardize my cookie supply chain.

I encourage SMs to counsel the badges in areas that they are better than anyone else. I earned Music from my SM.

ScoutBook does not recognize MBC's by district. It asks a search radius. It's not clear to me if it limits us to our council. Just say "yes", don't worry about what scoutbook does and continue on as a small dirtbag.

The latest NASA/NOAA report, including links to gory details: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-analyses-reveal-2019-second-warmest-year-on-record One of those links https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201913 shows that we in North America are a little late to the warming party ... In a link to the press conference slides https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/briefings/20200115.pdf, we have a note about Alaska's bumper crop of +6 deg F warmer this decade than the previous 8-decade average. We have been spared loss of life, but doing so in the US wasn't cheap. The last slide in that set shows that in the past four consecutive years we've endured more billion-dollar disasters per year than any time except 2011.

Talk to your DE. Each council does this differently. For ours, the commissioners call you, and you just have to renew youth protection. Even if you've done it for another position, you might have to fill that background check release form (the one they rolled out last year) again. It all depends on how the registrar organizes the council's files. Then, once you've jumped through the hoops, log in to Scoutbook periodically and see if your name comes up under the appropriate MBs. Better yet, have your ASMs log in and be sure they can find you. Again, that link depends on the registrar, and if you've got one who's slow on the uptake or simply overwhelmed, the connection between your member id and the badges you counsel might not be made. In spite of the hassels, the registration requirements for MBCs have really helped provide our youth with up-to-date lists. I imagine the embarrassment of a scout calling a counselor, getting the spouse or other loved one, and finding out he/she died four years ago.

So, did you actually confirm two crews? Or, did you get put in the lottery for two crews?